1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lifting devices, and more particularly to improvements in the automobile structure for adapting thereof to lift heavy objects and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The weight and manipulative inconvenience entailed in removing and replacing a spare tire are quite often beyond the abilities of a driver, particularly a driver of small stature. Thus various aids have been developed in the past for assisting the withdrawal of a spare tire or other heavy device from the interior of the automobile, the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,091,071 being typical. In each instance, such prior art devices entailed cumbersome structure which because of its size and complexity required extensive modification to the automobile or production allowances for the placement thereof. Thus the cost and complexity of such prior art structures prohibited the use thereof as an after market devices, to be conveniently installed in any automobile, in any point in the use thereof.
Because of the heavy wind loads applied on the hood of an automobile, the typical hood structure includes reinforcing members which when stationary carry no load. Similarly the trunk lid is typically reinforced by a second skin or frame on the interior thereof, once more, only for the purpose of absorbing the occassional loads applied thereto. This structure may be used to advantage in assisting the lifting of heavy objects either from the engine compartment or the trunk and it is with the foregoing advantage in mind that the present invention is set out.